Authorities identified 146 new cases of COVID-19 between Friday and Saturday, the Health Ministry said just as news broke that a 75th virus patient had died.  

The 92-year-old man was being treated at Mater Dei Hospital and had tested positive for the virus on Thursday, November 5. 

News of the man's death broke just as health authorities published their daily update of COVID-19 cases in the country. 

While 146 new cases were confirmed, another 168 patients recovered from the virus over the past 24 hours. 

As a result, the number of active coronavirus cases in the country declined slightly to 1,964, out of a total of 7,039 COVID-19 cases detected since the pandemic began in Malta. 

The new cases were identified from 2,941 swab tests, indicating a positive rate of 4.96 per cent. 

5,000 coronavirus patients have recovered in Malta so far. 

Contact tracing teams are still working to identify the source of the new cases reported on Saturday. Of Friday's cases: 

• 19 were family members of previously known cases
• 17 were contacts of work colleagues who tested positive
• 11 were in direct contact with positive cases
• Seven were at social gathering with other positive cases